let us raise the debt ceiling. no strings attached. and if the president can raise it as he should be able to and if congress wants to reject it 2/3. the mcconnell proposal is a good republican proposal. i hope you support it. that's the way to go. >> a bill that says regardless of what happens with the debt ceiling, the united states will never default on the debt, would you support that or not? >> i support the concept. i'd have to look at the bill. the best way to do that is the mcconnell act. >> we may have just made news. >>> last week, general colin powell was here worried about a dark vein of intolerance in republican quarters. you are part of a stream of new faces in the republican party, minority faces and voices in the party that seem to stand against that. how did you respond to it? >> well, i saw that interview. i respect general powell a great deal. i was disappointed with those comments. i think he was buying into some of the partisan attacks. if you look at this last election, for example, i think the most racially divis